Comments on: AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN DAY BY Wg Cdr J THOMAS

By: Jawahar Docca

Jawahar Docca — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 02:24:08 +0000

Dear Sir

Nice reading about the men behind the aviators and their flying machines.No one gives a thought for these skilled technicians who make flight safe for the rest of us.
Same can be said about marine engineers of which i am a member.We maintain ships machines in adverse and hostile weather.Both play their part

Jawahar Docca

By: Raveendran Puthalath

Raveendran Puthalath — Thu, 26 May 2016 21:39:42 +0000

Thomas sir,
Very interesting.
Thank you for sharing
Ravi

By: Unni Kartha

Unni Kartha — Thu, 26 May 2016 16:25:34 +0000

Thank you for the historical nuggets about Charles E Taylor (the man behind Wright Brothers’ success). Enjoyed reading his story.

My life was enriched and enlivened by many unsung heroes, the spanners, too many to list. Through the kaleidoscope, despite the fog of dementia, their smiling faces flash past daily. I salute these extraordinary men, whose dedication and professionalism kept me flying safe, to go touch a few monsoon low clouds and come right back, to do happy landings. I wish I had a self-inking rubber stamp to inscribe their names on the clouds that I could touch. Stamp the sky with their glory.

‘Happy Spanner’s Day’, to all of them.

By: J Thomas

J Thomas — Thu, 26 May 2016 13:42:49 +0000

Harvey Slocum (October 23, 1887 – November 11, 1961) was an American dam-building expert, known primarily for his part in the construction of Grand Coulee Dam in the United States and the Bhakra Dam in India.

Slocum started out as a labourer in a steel mill and rose to the position of construction superintendent of the Grand Coulee Dam.

Slocum joined the Bhakra Dam construction project as chief engineer in 1952 and imprinted on it his own distinctive style of working.

Slocum died in New Delhi at age 74

By: Brig SL Vashisht

Brig SL Vashisht — Thu, 26 May 2016 12:33:46 +0000

Sir,
It certainly makes a very interesting reading.
I flew as an Air O P pilot from 1971 till I retired in 2000 ,with breaks in between to do my command and staff assignments.
Consequent to formation of Army Aviation Corps, our EME aviation technicians have learnt their job very well. We found them more dedicated and keen to learn.
I will forward this article to our current Aviation Maintenance bosses to incorporate an aviation maintenance technician day in our present Army Aviation Corps too.
Fond regards,
Brig. Surender Vashisht
9811506133

By: S L Vashisht

S L Vashisht — Thu, 26 May 2016 12:29:14 +0000

Dear Gen Surjit,
It certainly makes a very interesting reading.
I flew as an Air O P pilot from 1971 till I retired in 2000 ,with breaks in between to do my command and staff assignments.
Consequent to formation of Army Aviation Corps, our EME aviation technicians have learnt their job very well. We found them more dedicated and keen to learn.
I will forward this article to our current Aviation Maintenance bosses to incorporate an aviation maintenance technician day in our present Army Aviation Corps too.
Fond regards,
Brig. Surender Vashisht
9811506133

By: Surjit Singh

Surjit Singh — Thu, 26 May 2016 12:25:55 +0000

KPG,
That was a nice quip in the end!
In the engineering circles we say,

_ An electronics engineer’s mistake is found out at once

_ A mechanical engineering error shows up in a few weeks

_ When a civil engineer makes a faulty bridge or a dam, it takes decades to show up!

Surjit

By: Surjit Singh

Surjit Singh — Thu, 26 May 2016 11:59:07 +0000

Dear GS,
Yes. I recall seeing his picture in your house. You were justifiably proud of his achievements.
As for paper degrees, they only help the mediocre in climbing up. The talented and the gifted persons do not need M Techs and PhDs!
This is true of fine arts also. Kishor Kumar had received no formal training in music. And yet, some of his songs are absolutely unforgettable.
While on this subject, I am tempted recount a little story about the ‘credit’ given to the artistes for film songs. To begin with there were no ‘playback’ singers. The actors sang their own songs. And on those 78 RP record discs you see the name of the actor only. Later, when Lata Mangeshkar appeared on the scene, she suggested that for every song, the names of the singer, music director and the lyricist be written. And this reform improved the quality of the songs churned out by Bollywood.
Surjit

By: Surjit Singh

Surjit Singh — Thu, 26 May 2016 11:50:06 +0000

Dear Air Marshal Mishra,
During my forty odd years of service, the task which I found the most daunting was the one connected with ‘evaluating’ the performance of my younger colleagues. When we completed major projects, it was always a team effort. and yet the system demanded that we were required to recommend only one or two persons for the coveted medals.
During wars I found that the soldiers who ended up with ‘chakra’ awards were in effect a part of the unit. Imagine some ended up with MVCs (or even PVC) while his comrade who was fighting shoulder to shoulder with him was not even ‘mentioned-in-despatches’ !
The unsung soldiers fade away, until someone like Thomas digs out their story.
It is my belief that ALL major inventions and discoveries are the result of the effort of several persons. We give credit to a few, who are the noisiest amongst them.
Surjit

By: Surjit Singh

Surjit Singh — Thu, 26 May 2016 08:35:59 +0000

Going through the archives of this blog, I find that this is not the first time that Jo Thomas has picked out an ‘unsung hero’ I remember a detailed piece on Nain Singh many months ago.
I think that some day, some one will do a story on No. 3007 SCC J Thomas XIX Course, Hunter Squadron as one of the soldiers who deserves a much better place in the history of the Indian Armed Forces!
Surjit